Structure, not dollars, will be the key to the Dalton deal

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was picked higher than 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It’s possible that Dalton also ended up with a better second contract.

Like Kaepernick, Dalton committed for six more years, putting him under contract through 2020. But how long are the Bengals committed to Dalton?

When the details emerge (and they inevitably will), the key factors to consider will be: (1) signing bonus; (2) fully guaranteed money at signing; (3) money guaranteed for injury only at signing; and (4) the timing of future triggers, if any, for converting injury-only guarantee to full guarantees.

Dalton’s deal also need to be scrutinized for de-escalators, like those in Kaepernick’s deal that drop his pay if he doesn’t take the team to the Super Bowl or become a first-team All Pro. And it remains to be seen whether Dalton will have to dig into his own pocket and pay for a disability policy with benefits payable to the team, if Dalton suffers a catastrophic injury.

For now, all we know is that the deal is worth $115 million in new money, if the Bengals choose to keep Dalton for seven years. That’s more than $19 million per year. Chances are that, unless Dalton keeps taking the Bengals to the playoffs, he won’t make all of that money. Based on the structure, it’s also possible that, if Dalton continues to thrive, he may realize that, come 2017 or so, he’s underpaid.

I don’t think that he is going to have to worry about being underpaid. With the offensive weapons that he has had and the defense that returns the ball often, if he could not win a single playoff game; even the games at home, adversity, when it comes, will blow him over much like it did Matt Schaub. Big numbers in a few blowouts doesn’t win a Lombardi.

Lots of teams would like to have Andy on their team. When he inevitably wins a playoff game this year, this signing will look genius. Imagine how much money he would have commanded if he waited till after he won a couple playoff games

Dalton gets the Bengals to the playoffs, which is basically a win if you recall the last 20 years of Bengal history. The playoffs themselves are a crapshoot…yeah, Dalton has played poor but so has the entire team.

If the Bengals let Dalton go, who fills the gap? The Bengals aren’t in rebuild mode, they’d be throwing good years away trying to get a rookie QB ready to win.

Good thing Mike Brown has been so frugal with team facilities and payroll over the years. He clearly was saving up to burn $100,000,000.00+ on fire on a QB who doesn’t have the arm strength to throw outside the numbers in winter weather.

Question: if Dalton is worth that much, what is AJ Green worth? Because, let’s be honest here, Dalton without Green is Sanchez. 40-something % of his yds were Green, the most of any QB-WR combo in the entire NFL. He relies on him too heavily. He’s the best receiver in the game right now, no doubt. He makes Dalton’s life easy-chuck it up and I’ll be open. Without Green you have a noodle arm QB whose ball has no zip, and crumbles in the playoffs consistently. Is that worth $115M?

On a completely unrelated note, why are we so interested in details for guys like Dalton and CK, but when it comes to Flacco’s contract people just bark “$125M for an average QB” but never look at the breakdown of his contract, and how the Ravens are really only on the hook for 1 more year @ $18M, and if they cut him in ’16 only take a $3M bath and they will never have to pay him that $25M+ season because they structured his contract perfectly?

50-something QB rating in the playoffs. Tebow and Sanchez have better stats and have won a game. They also didn’t have the supporting cast Andy does. AJ Green should be getting this deal for making Dalton look competent.

Scott Farkus, paging Scott Farkus. Spokesman for Crest Total White on line two.

crownofthehelmet says:Aug 4, 2014 11:24 AM

Let the regression commence.

weepingjebus says:Aug 4, 2014 11:25 AM

During the playoffs last year someone coined the phrase “Red Romo”. I’m too lazy to go back and see who it was, but — I salute you.

drudema says:Aug 4, 2014 11:25 AM

So how does this help team moral? When a mediocre quarterback is now worth almost 20 mil and great game changing players have to fight for a fraction of that. Sounds like a recipe for deep resentment and animosity.

crownofthehelmet says:Aug 4, 2014 11:29 AM

This rivals the Flacco deal as officially the worst money spent in the nfl in the past decade.

The knock on the playoff loses are justified however there are 32 starting QB’s in the NFL. Not hard to go to NFL.com and see where he has ranked throughout his career.

2013:
7th – Yards
3rd – TD’s
6th – 20+ Passes
1st – 40+ Passes

2012:
16th – Yards
7th – TD’s
24th- 20+ passes
3rd – 40+ passes

2011:
16th -Yards
13th – TD’s
12th – 20+ passes
8th – 40+ passes

Seems to be a player who is not only consistent (insert consistently bad in playoff jokes here) but also seems to be on the rise. Couple that with the fact that in Marvin’s first 8 seasons with the bengals he had 2 winning seasons, since Dalton was drafted three straight playoff appearances.
Not a bad deal for a franchise that once paid large sums of money to David Klingler, Scott Mitchell, Paul Justin, Gus Ferrotte, Akili Smith and Jay Schroeder to line up at QB

I like how everyone justifies this because we wont the division last year. Yeah we wont he division. Who cares? We got handled by a bad Chargers team in the playoffs. Most of the issue was Andy. Actually, Andy was one of the main issues in 3 straight playoff losses. yeah there were other issues there, but Andy screwed the pooch in all 3 losses. Yet this is justified? Not hardly. This guy is mediocre at best. With the way Campbell played for Hue in Oakland, I wouldn’t be shocked if Campbell gave Andy a run for his money. Andy is just not that good.

First off, this is a really good deal for Cincinnati Bengals. You all know by now that he won’t see all that money, and he is paid in the 2nd tier of QB’s where he deserves to be paid. Like him or not…. he has improved his numbers every year and no-one other than Peyton or Bress put up better numbers. Yes he has folded in the playoffs but how many QB’S haven’t struggled in their 1st 3 years. Big Ben and Flacco didn’t have the burden of winning the games on their shoulders like Dalton has as far as they had extremely strong running games and top 5 defense that they could rely on as they continued to grow as QB’S. It wasn’t until years later that the teams changed their direction and handed the keys to Big Ben and Flacco in terms of throwing the ball 35 times a game. Dalton has had to do that since he started as a rookie. Remember peeps……he has started 3 years…and he didn’t have a veteran corps of receivers to throw to, AJ Green was drafted the same year. All of our starting receivers have been drafted in the last 3 years besides Gresham and he is a tight end.
Remember San Diego gave up on Brees because they had another QB who was big time coming in. Other than Bridgewater…….I didn’t see a QB in the last 2 drafts who I would want more than Dalton where the Bengals didn’t have to give up huge multiple draft picks likes Washington did for RG3

starfan79 says:Aug 4, 2014 11:39 AM

thats the market now.. and thats why backup qb’s will be paid too much money to hold a clipboard cause their value now rises

Joe Flacco playoff record – 9-4 and a Super Bowl.
Dalton – 0-3.
Sounds like we have a new ‘overpaid’ qb to bash….
Flacco had done more with less and wins when it counts. The pressure on Dalton will go up even higher this year and he will fade like a sunset…

randomcommenter says:Aug 4, 2014 11:59 AM

Good news for the steelers. Each rival AFC North team is now tied to an overrated and overpaid QB, Flacco, Dalton, and Manziel.

No longer structure when you pay a player that kind of money. It will prevent team from signing great players in free agencies. What they have is what they got. Not enough talents around Dalton. Just like the cheese heads in little WI, Rodgers took the big money and look where they are. Even my granny can do better than those clowns.

This guy wins in the regular season, he just does. So all of you AFC North fans that keep saying thanks Bengals, remember that his team has been to the playoffs in 3 straight years, and when his team goes, the likelihood of your team going decreases significantly. Dalton has proven nothing beyond regular season success, and I wouldn’t have paid him until he did. It’s worth nothing though that he’s only been in the league for 3 years so it’s not like he’s really behind schedule for a 2nd round qb. Also note that absolutely no one steals money from Mike Brown, so don’t be shocked if his cheap ways have somehow structured the deal to be team friendly.

nopepper123 says:Aug 4, 2014 12:26 PM

This deal was done many weeks ago……….just announced now. You knew it was coming and as a Bengal fan I’m glad it’s over. Dalton is VERY competent and only getting better. Bengals are lucky to have him.

This deal was done many weeks ago……….just announced now. You knew it was coming and as a Bengal fan I’m glad it’s over. Dalton is VERY competent and only getting better. Bengals are lucky to have him.

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Getting better? He threw 20 interceptions last year, which was a career high! 12 games with an INT, 5 with multiple INTs. Still can’t read a blitz pre-snap, or react to one after the snap.

Kaz says:Aug 4, 2014 12:55 PM

Only fans of teams like Denver, NE, San Fran, Seattle, and Indy have room to talk. Everyone else turning their nose up to a qb who has never missed the playoffs, and has never had a losing season show your teams record the last 3 years….

sirtalonhawk says:
Aug 4, 2014 11:37 AM
…Big Ben and Flacco didn’t have the burden of winning the games on their shoulders like Dalton has as far as they had extremely strong running games and top 5 defense that they could rely on as they continued to grow as QB’S. It wasn’t until years later that the teams changed their direction and handed the keys to Big Ben and Flacco in terms of throwing the ball 35 times a game. Dalton has had to do that since he started as a rookie.
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I’m not 100% sure what you are talking about here. Cincy had the 3rd ranked D last year and a middle of the pack running game last year and Dalton STILL fell apart in the playoffs. And you can discuss his young wideouts but you’re declining to talk about Dalton having the #1 wideout in the NFL. To compare? When Flacco won his SB he had 11-0 TD-INT run, the 11th rushing offense, the 16th ranked D, and his #1 wideout didn’t even break 1,000yds in the reg season (Boldin had 921yds, while in AJ Greens WORST season he had 1057yds). Statistically speaking? Flacco had a worse surrounding cast in his 4th year and won a SB than Dalton did in his 3rd year when he crumbled again. So using that logic? FAIL.

Kaz says:
Aug 4, 2014 12:55 PM
Only fans of teams like Denver, NE, San Fran, Seattle, and Indy have room to talk. Everyone else turning their nose up to a qb who has never missed the playoffs, and has never had a losing season show your teams record the last 3 years….
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You do know the Ravens have won the division 2 of the last 3 years and have a SB to show for it, right? And every team that has won a playoff game since Dalton entered the league deserves a good laugh. So that would be: Den, NE, Sea, SF, Bal, Indy, SD, KC, NO, Atl, GB, NYG, Hou. So 13 franchises.

Most of you would be rapturous if your team won just one measly Super Bowl. We won it once, then again, and again, and again, yet again, oh, look, another one. You shrivel in our shadow. We define greatness. We built the NFL. We are the Steelers.
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2013 Dalton’s stats where:
4293 pass yards, 33 passing TDs, 20 into, 61.9 completion %, and QB rating of 88.8 yards per completion 11.8, yards per game 263. Not to mention playing all 16 games for the third straight year.

In every statistics category save for interception and completion % Dalton has improved.

I really don’t get the negativity on this signing. He’s looked bad in the playoffs, but he’s gotten to the playoffs 3 straight years (the first Bengals’ QB to do that) and hasn’t missed a start. More important is that they had no realistic ‘Plan B'; there are no free agents coming up that are better than him and they won’t finish high enough in the draft to get a sure thing from college; it’s a reasonable move based on the market and his regular season performance. Sure everyone here wants playoff wins, but I’ve yet to hear from anyone bashing this what their alternative is.

2013 Dalton’s stats where:
4293 pass yards, 33 passing TDs, 20 into, 61.9 completion %, and QB rating of 88.8 yards per completion 11.8, yards per game 263. Not to mention playing all 16 games for the third straight year.

In every statistics category save for interception and completion % Dalton has improved.

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How dare I use INTERCEPTIONS and COMPLETION % to show that a QUARTERBACK isn’t improving!

Those numbers show that his decision making is getting worse. Also, he has 1 TD in 3 playoff games. And even worse, his “improvement” season got him only to 15th in QB rating. Still can’t read a blitz, pre or post snap.

As a Browns fan, thank you Bengals. I hope Dalton stays around for a long time.
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Oh no problem, and thank you to guys for always taking the basement in the AFC North. I really do appreciate it.

Dalton is 4-2 vs the Browns. Just saying. I know you want to be beaten more than that and its not a surprise considering you’re a Clowns fan

How dare I use INTERCEPTIONS and COMPLETION % to show that a QUARTERBACK isn’t improving!

Those numbers show that his decision making is getting worse. Also, he has 1 TD in 3 playoff games. And even worse, his “improvement” season got him only to 15th in QB rating. Still can’t read a blitz, pre or post snap.

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Nope you are right that he made mistakes more frequently. I would put some of that on the coaches though. If you want a QB to make fewer mistakes why ask him to throw it even more. In three years his pass attempts increased from 516 in ’11 to 586 in 2013. Also, in last years playoff game he had 51(!) pass attempts. By comparison Russell Wilson had 68 attempts the entire playoff run and Superbowl.
You can pile on for Dalton’s decision making but I, for one, think the blame on that fell on the Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden.
Good luck Redskins.

2-4 vs Baltimore
2-4 vs Pittsburgh
4-2 Vs Cleveland.
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Not too bad. Those numbers will change. I know he can put a beating on the Steelers and Ravens easily only if gets good play calls from his OC.
The Browns yawn. Well, well…No comment

thegenoatkinsdiet says:Aug 4, 2014 2:17 PM

Some of you are going to sound ignorant for comparing this contract to Flacco’s once the details of the contract are known.

Actually it’s how dare you cherry pick statistics. So does touchdowns not say anything about a QBs decision making? What about qb rating? You sir have a bias and cherry pick what you want as far as stats go to back it up.

Whoever said Dalton is Sanchez without AJ Green, must have forgotten about Marvin Jones’ 10 TD catches last year. AJ’s not the only weapon, and even if he was, he isn’t now.

Fact: He HAS knocked both Steelers and Ravens out of the playoffs.

Fact: He HAS beaten Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Big Ben, Joe Flacco, Andrew Luck, etc. etc.. I don’t care if it was the defense or not, he was the starting QB. Plain n Simple

And one of the biggest points that nobody remembers.. He’s already done more in 3 years here than Carson freakin’ Palmer ever did. He’s taken the Bengals to more playoff appearances in half the time, whether he’s won the game or not. Inconsistent, yes, but Brady, Rodgers and Luck must be too if they’ve lost to this guy…. Jus sayin’

JackedUpSports says:
Aug 4, 2014 11:01 AM
He’s a fine QB, but Cinci is settling for mediocrity. Why not bring in a big time vet or use a high draft pick on a big time QB prospect to push Dalton and see what he’s really made of?
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Uh problem here…who are the BIG TIME vets you’re speaking of and where are they? There are no big time vets out there worth looking at. As far as the draft pick goes, thanks to Dalton, we have had a pick in the draft early enough to even think about one in quite some time.

vikinganswer says:Aug 4, 2014 2:45 PM

See why the Vikings dont want franchise QBs or in this case an avg to slightly over avg QB, you dont have to pay them this outrageous amount of money. He will be lucky to see 30% of this $$.

I’m not 100% sure what you are talking about here. Cincy had the 3rd ranked D last year and a middle of the pack running game last year and Dalton STILL fell apart in the playoffs. And you can discuss his young wideouts but you’re declining to talk about Dalton having the #1 wideout in the NFL. To compare? When Flacco won his SB he had 11-0 TD-INT run, the 11th rushing offense, the 16th ranked D, and his #1 wideout didn’t even break 1,000yds in the reg season (Boldin had 921yds, while in AJ Greens WORST season he had 1057yds). Statistically speaking? Flacco had a worse surrounding cast in his 4th year and won a SB than Dalton did in his 3rd year when he crumbled again. So using that logic? FAIL.

uhh hello….you obviously don’t read well BEFORE YOU REPLY TO SOMEONES COMMENT…….

I was comparing Daltons 1st 3 years in the league compared to to Flaccos. Flacco wasn’t throwing the ball to win games then like he is now. The Ravens won with defense and strong running game. The Bengals have a strong defense but any moron will tell you the Bengals DID NOT have a strong running game the 1st 3 years of his career. My suggestion is READ THE ENTIRE POST!!!!

Flacco is now throwing to win games after he had years before the Ravens put the offense behind him…… My point was Dalton has never had that luxury when he entered the league

crownofthehelmet says:Aug 4, 2014 5:54 PM

unrulyondamic says:
Fact: He HAS knocked both Steelers and Ravens out of the playoffs.
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This is not technically a fact. The fact is, Dalton has never knocked anyone, besides his own team, out of the playoffs. ‘Knocking out’ implies they were already in. Dalton has kept teams from getting into the playoffs, but he has never knocked anyone out of the playoffs.